Vampire Consort
by EarthFae
Summary: In a world where vampires have enslaved the human race, the vampires have everything except for an abundance of females. Male vampires have turned to human slave women in order to get children. The vampire king is expected to have a human consort. One of the candidates for his consort is Dawn, a girl who plans to escape when she has the chance, however she catches the king's eye
1. The light of Dawn

She always thought it was cruel of her mother to name her Dawn. Dawn was the part of day when the night ended and light and warmth filled the world, Dawn was an awful name to give to a child in this area where cold blooded creatures of the night ruled the earth. Her mother had told her by the time she was old enough to be named her hair was a bright golden color that had enough red in it to remind of her dawn. Her mother once told her that in her age, before the vampires, that children were named at birth, or even before it. That seemed beyond stupid to the girl, how would they know if the child would live long enough to even know their own name. Dawn still remembered her name day well.

She was dressed in white, a rare color in the human slave corridors where blood flowed so much, and standing before the vampires of the palace staff in charge of slaves. Dawn could still remember her mother's trembling hand as she held her small palm. The slave girl could also remember looking directly at with her blue eyes, and not blinking in fear, at these creatures. They studied her well. The youngest of them still needed to lean on a cane, and he smiled at her and she could see his fangs. Still the human child did not feel any fear. To this day Dawn could not tell you if it was bravery, or child-like naivety that made her unafraid of them.

"Oh...my what a lovely little girl you have there." said the one leaning on a cane, as he directed his dark gaze at the child.

"T-t-thank you...m-m-masters." replied her mother in a trembling voice, and she grasped her daughter's hand even tighter. The youngest nodded,

"Skin...so pale, much like porcelain." Dawn would understand in later years that Vampires loved paleness, they didn't want any remainders of the sun, and the paleness looks so much similar to their own skin. However, not even the palest of humans could match a vampire's snow white complexion. "And her hair...so much...color...so bright." He reached out to touch her blonde curls, and she felt his cold hand against her skull and cheek, but didn't shudder. She would later learn that vampires loves bright things, ironic since they dressed so darkly and always had black hair and eyes. However, that was the truth. "And her eyes...a beautiful blue." The youngest stared into her eyes for a long moment. Dawn had never understood this, but many vampires seemed to be fascinated with the color blue. The human girl had never been given an explanation for this, but she had a guess. It was because it was the color of the daytime sky, vampires know owned everything, but they were still denied the basic right to the sun that God had given humans freely.

The vampire now retracted his hand from the child slave, and turned his gaze to her still trembling mother. "Well...what do you wish for this girl to be called." There was a tension that seemed to fill the room after that, but her mother spoke.

"D-Dawn." She stuttered, but managed to get out. The vampire once again took a look at the young child and then at his fellow creatures of the night and they all nodded.

"Dawn...a very beautiful name for what will likely grow up to be a very beautiful woman." Remarked another vampire.

"Why I agree...and by the time she has bloomed into womanhood Prince Dragos will have become king won't he?" Another Vampire added, and she heard her mother give a sharp gasp the girl, that was newly named Dawn, had no comprehension on why the vampire prince would have anything to do with her, but her mother understood all too well.

"Oh...you are right." Spoke the youngest vampire again, with a glint in his eyes as he looked down at Dawn. "I see a candidate for consort of the Vampire King in our midst." Now Dawn's stoic expression was broken into one of curiosity. What did they mean by "consort" and what did it mean for her. She wouldn't find out until she was in her early teens. The vampires talked amongst themselves for a few moments longer until they turned their attention to the trembling mother and eerily composed child.

"You are now dismissed, you may go back to the slave quarters to rest now. Her mother bowed, and so did Dawn, and her mother thanked her vampire masters, before taking her child back to their slave quarters. Later that night, while Dawn was looking up at the moon from her bed, she heard her mother crying herself to sleep.

Dawn grew up as children do, but she was still a slave in a vampire's house. She did chores throughout the day, working until the moon rose and Dawn, her namesake, came. However, there was something that separated her from the other slave children, she learned to read. She had been given access to spend about an hour of the day with the vampire children in their reading lessons. This was the best time of the night for her, she got to learn about worlds, places, and things she had never heard of. Kings and Princess of far off, or imaginary lands. Important people of both human and vampire history. Reading became her escape from the toil of life as a human slave. She had begun to sneak books from unused rooms of the manor to under her pillow, and when daylight arrived, she would read them, even if many of the words were too big for her, until she was too tired and had to go back to sleep.

Of course, her privilege of being let off an hour to study with the vampire children let to her being the object of envy and resentment to the other slave children, rumors spread and many friendships; those real and potential were shattered. The girl could not make friends with the vampire children, it was clear they viewed her as just another human slave, who for some reason got to join them. This lead to Dawn becoming more withdrawn in her books. Most books Dawn would return when she was finished reading, but there was one that caught her eye, particularly well. It was an old book of human fairy tales, a dusty old volume, with torn and dulled edges, and almost falling apart at the seems.

However, Dawn took care of the book and handled it gently, like it was her greatest friend. In a way the dusty, old book did become her best friend when her mother passed away from a fever when she had just turned ten. Which left her both isolated from the human and vampire world. The slave girl had no idea why she had such an attachment to such a silly book full of impossible things; boots that could go seven leagues in a step, cats that could talk, and pumpkins turning into beautiful carriages.

However, she still read this book of impossible things until the pages fell out and she had to keep them in careful order. Sometimes she thought about how silly the book was with it's handsome princes and beautiful princesses. There was no princesses in the world anymore, anyway. The vampires had done away with any human rulers when they took over and a girl hadn't been born into the royal family for centuries. Vampires lacked females in their ranks and as a resulted often took human females to breed more vampires for themselves. The prince of the vampires, she had never seen, but she heard rumors he would be king soon.

But what did princes concern her for? She was miserable except for the moments she could escape in the books. The vampire children resented her for being in their presence. The vampire adults saw her as nothing more as a human slave. Her follow human slaves resented her for the "special treatment" she received for being able to learn to read, a privilege she could not explain why she had. She once had the idea to try to teach her fellow slaves how to read, but they refused and thought it was just her way of making them feel stupid. It did not go well, in the end she was isolated, lonely, and miserable for reasons she didn't fully understand. Why had she been given the privilege to learn to read with the vampire children. However, she would one day understand. Turning thirteen was a big deal in the human slave world, it meant the age where a vampire began to take blood from you and every human dreaded that day. No one could lie and say it was not a painful experince. The best the older humans could tell you was that you got use too it, not that it got any better. She remember being lead away with her heart beating so fast, she thought it might come out of her chest. Then she entered a room, a rich room that only the most trusted slaves were allowed to enter and she saw several elders. Her heart now panicked, did they all want to feed off her? 

"Dawn..." Spoke one, "You have grown into a beautiful young woman, just like we predicated on your naming day." He turned to the others and they nodded in agreement. He looked back at her, his black eyes staring deeply into her blue ones. "We have decided to make it official, you will become a candidate for consort of the Vampire King Dragos." Her eyes widened in both fright and confusion.

"M-Masters-" She stuttered out, "I don't understand."

"Oh, lovely Dawn it is an honor. As you have noticed there is a lack of female vampires in the world, and less are born with each passing generation. Some of us think female vampires will become a thing of the past after this generation. We don't know why that is, but we must continue our race. Fortunately, the vampire race has been able to reproduce with human females" Dawn felt her heart beating fast, "And the human female who is chosen by the Vampire King becomes his consort."

"But...how...I can't." She said, scared. She didn't want to be consort. She didn't want this at all. She felt herself stumble back a little, but it was a waste of energy, there would be no way for her to escape this.

"Oh, Dawn..." His smooth voice became and she could sense he was using a vampire's thrall on her, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Some humans could resist vampire's powers, but that took years of training which was not offered to her. "Being a vampire consort is wonderful. You will not have to work anymore, you'll be well feed, and wear beautiful gowns and dresses. It is wonderful. You want to be vampire consort." She was now lost in the thrall, all she could do now was meekly nod.

"Yes, masters it would be an honor to become vampire consort." The elder clapped his hands.

"Wonder, wonderful, Dawn. I knew you would agree to it. Now your training begins today. You will no longer sleep in the slave quarters, but upstairs with the family and be trained in the arts and learn how to be a proper consort. The competition for consort will begin in three years, when you are sixteen. You will be ready." Dawn gave a bow to them.

"I shall be, masters."

That was the start of her new life. She was still in her thrall state when she was lead up to her new bedroom and when she finally snapped out of it, she started crying on her new plush bed. Oh, she didn't want to be a consort, she didn't care about the gowns, or jewels. She would still be a slave, just one in a gilded cage. She just wanted to be free. The finally calmed herself down and wiped her tears...yes all she wanted as to be free. She wanted to feel the sun that was natural to humans, not to worry about vampire masters, be free of so much hate and anger towards her.

There had been whispers and rumors told when the sun was high and the vampires hidden away of free human colonies...that were in barren lands that were so hot, humid, and vast that the vampires would not be able to find shelter by sunrise, or even find the human colonies. Of course, these were rumors, but inside Dawn had a feeling they were real. They had to be. There had to be humans who escaped being made slaves of the vampires. Yes, there had to be...and she would join them. When the time came for her to be part of the composition for human consort...she would have to leave this mansion, and that would give her time, if she was smart and swift enough to escape. She got up with a new feeling of resolve, but also fear at what she had decided. However, she had to continue with this goal in her mind, not only for her freedom, but for her sanity. Dawn doubted she could make it, with her future only possibly as a consort. She needed something else to hope for.

Later, she sneaked back down to the slave quarters and found her fairy tale book and brought it back up to her bedroom, where she put it in her nightstand. Dawn took a glance around her room, it was much nicer than the slave quarters that was for sure, and the bed felt cozier and more comfortable. So this was the start of her next three years. She gave a silent prayer, to whoever was listening, for her deliverance from her vampire masters.

The next three years was work, not the labor she was use to as a slave, but work as in learning the arts and manners of the Vampire court. She was taught piano and violin, paintings, sewing, needlepoint. Dawn was given lessons in dance and conversation, as well. During the three years, she was also dressed much better and feed better as well, but not as good as the vampires were. However, still far above what a human was usually given. However, Dawn did not complain, but there was also another benefit to her training she had free access to the library and could read to her heart's content. She still cherished her book of fairy tales though. The vampire elders were pleased by her progress and never felt the need to use the thrall on her again.

Dawn was very pleased by how her act was paying off, of course her goal was too escape in the end, and that kept her going. Finally, the three years had passed and she had turned sixteen only a few months ago, she was called before the elders. The human girl greeted them with a proper curtsey that was suitable to her rank, and which pleased the elders.

"Why, Dawn, you have grown into a beautiful woman." The eldest vampire of the family praised her, "We have entered many human women into the contest to become consort over the years, but we have never had a single win. However-" He looked upon her and his black eyes seemed to glow with an expression of greed. "-I think our luck might change. You are beautiful and well trained in the arts of culture."

"And-" Began another vampire, "-If King Dragos picks another girl, well have a beautiful female that we can breed with our own family, or sell at a good price." The other vampires chimed in with agreement. It took the last three years of learning self-control for her not to have a look of disgust on her face at the statement of her "breeding", her blue eyes were neutral. But inside she thought 'like I will ever be a broodmare to your kind, I won't spread myself for any of you, not even your damn king', but she was not foolish to voice such a thought. Instead, she kept her docile expression until the Vampires Elders dismissed her.

The next night, for the first time in her sixteen years of mortal life, she left the castle. She observed the enchanted horses. They reminded her of the pegasuses she had read about in her fairy tale book, that she had hidden away in her trunk, but these creatures were pure black, including the feathers of their wings. Their eyes had a warning red gleam to him, reminding her, like vampires, these creatures were beautiful, but deadly. No human would lie and say vampires were not beautiful, but their beauty was a dangerous trick a way to lure their prey in to make, them want them. It was no wonder that vampires hadn't gone extinct while underground, with their lack of females, considering their beauty could easily lead any hot-blooded human woman into temptation. She was helped into the carriage with her "guardian" at her side. Her guardian would likely be the thing stopping her from making an escape as soon as she would like, but she had to be given a chance at it. She had to, or that would have been too cruel. The carriage began to levitate from the ground and the enchanted horses began their movement from the earth to the sky. Dawn looked out the window, and saw the mansion that had been her prison disappear grow smaller. She felt the night rush through her blonde curls, as she gazed down to the earth. Forests were in view that glowed with the moonlight reflecting on it, but soon the forests gave way to the cities...or what was left of them.

Her mother had told her that humans didn't have magic, like vampires, so they used their intelligence to make machines to help them. However, there was a price to be paid for humans advancement, something called pollution. Her mother had explained that humans had somehow poisoned the earth and had set the earth in a downward spiral that would have wiped out human life, eventually. When the vampires took control, they saw no use in human's technology and left all the great things they had built to rot. A good section of vampires were still working on ways to use magic to reverse human's damage to the earth. Dawn was not sure if she believed that story, it could just be lie, a myth, that vampires told to justify their treatment of humans. After all, her mother had been young when the vampires took over, they could have easily influenced her.

The trip took this night and another to complete. Dawn would not admit it, but she actually enjoyed flying through the air, the feel of the wind in her hair, and the sights of the earth down below. The only thing that could have made it better was if she could have seen it during the day, but that was impossible. Still, flying through the air made her feel more free than she had in her entire life. But all good things had to come to an end.

Dawn's mouth dropped when she saw the palace, it was situated on a tall mountain, covered by snow, but it's spirals shown greatly. It was a large; gray and black castle. On the spirals and towers flew banners with the black and crimson symbol of the Vampire kingdom. She felt the carriage go into decline as they started to land. Dawn kept her composer and did not to gawk at the beauty and riches she saw around her. It was clearly vampire atheistic with it's dark colors and red, but she also saw shivers of gold and brightness scattered around. There were plenty of human slaves about and a few guards, but not many as you would suspect. Dawn took an educated guess and decided the palace was likely protected by the highest of magics and guards weren't need in large amounts.

They seemed to pass through endless halls, as they made their way to the room she was assigned too, and they finally entered it. Her guardian immediately began talking about how dinner would be severed in only a few hours and how she needed to get ready right away. She wordlessly obeyed, and went to the bathroom of her suite and took a quick bath, making sure she was clean and refreshed. She put on a robe and walked out to see a frilly pink and white dress on the bed. Dawn held back a sign, but vampires seemed to love to dress their human concubines or "possible" consort, in this case in lace and frilly things. However, she said nothing as she put it on, where she also discovered it had a pink bow attached to her waist at the back.

The blonde sighed, knowing that eating in such a white and frilly thing would be a needless pain, but she some of her lessons on manners had been dedicated entirely on the subject of eating neatly while dressed in ridiculous clothes like this.

Her guardian entered the room and approved of her the dress looked in her and she smiled and thanked him, why fighting the same time to tell him to try to wear something this lacy and then try to eat, or do anything practical in it. Her guardian then directed her to a vanity, where she sat down. Guardians were good for more than just protecting the future candidate they also had to make them look good, she felt her hair being done, and her curls put in place, along with make-up. In the end, Dawn had to sadly admit that she did indeed look like a doll, just how vampires likes their human woman. She held back a disgusted look. The guardian then left her alone and Dawn waited bored for the almost an hour until he returned to inform her it was dinner time.

Dawn took a deep breathe and took her guardian's arm, as he lead her out to the dinning room. The dinning room was a long and thin table at the head of the table was a fancy, but empty, chair. It wasn't a hard guess to believe that this belonged to the king. She looked at the table and she spotted eleven other women, which she took by their coloring and bright dresses, were other women, along the table were also other vampire nobles. She noticed that most of the human woman were clustered around the end of the table where, what she guessed, was the king's chair. Did they...want to become Vampire consort? Before this night, Dawn had never considered the fact that other human women would want to be vampire consort. Had they been tempted by the tales of wealth, and living in luxury. She felt two emotions at this; first disgust that they could throw themselves at the mast of the race that was enslaving their's and second; relief, now she could focus more on her plans of escape with the other human women fighting for his attention.

She felt her guardian untwine his arm from her's and he wished her luck before leaving. With her guardian gone, Dawn went and sat away from the king's seat, and near the middle-edge of the table, beside a vampire nobleman, who seemed more interested in his wine than her. Not that she was complaining. Vampires did need blood to survive, but they couldn't sustain on that alone, they needed food and water, but only a little compared to humans. However, some vampires were gluttonous when it came to certain things. For instance, the nobleman beside her seemed to be a glutton for his wine, by the way he was swaying and moving so early in the evening.

Several minutes passed, and then the doors open and she saw every head in the room turning towards them. Their stood a man, clearly a vampire by his snow-white skin, and black hair and eyes, whose hair was slightly passed his neck and he was dressed in dark blue. His face was expressionless, she saw his gaze shift briefly toward the girls crowded at his edge of the table, but his face showed no sign of pleasure, or anything at that.

Everyone stood up, including Dawn, and the men bowed, while the ladies curtseyed to his majesty. He gave a brief nod in acknowledgment of this act of respect, and no one sat back down, until King Dragos did. Then the food came out, she noticed the humans had larger portions than the vampires while the vampires had little at all, but that was usual. The noble beside her was quickly finishing down his glass. Dawn ate, but she was bored, she was not about to make conversation with the king, or any vampire for that matter. The curly blonde glanced down again at the king, and the king seemed bored, even though it sounded like every human woman there, but her, was in competition to gain his attention. She took a moment to study his face. Oh, he was handsome, but that didn't impress her. What vampire man wasn't handsome? Though he was a bit more "buff", if that was the word, than the typical lithe vampire man. She turned her head back to her plate, wishing this dinner would be over soon.

"Bring me more wine, boy!" She heard the drunken vampire carry on beside her, and she was now regretting her choice of sitting beside him. At least the king didn't seem like a drunk. She glanced toward the servant and to her surprise saw a small boy, but he was black. It was well known that vampires loved pale skin and the richer vampire families generally had an entirely white staff, while humans of darker races were slaves to poorer vampires, or did rougher manual labor. She was surprised to see a black human in the royal household. She looked at the little boy, he was holding a wine bottle that looked too big for his still small hands. The drunken vampire held out his almost empty wine goblet toward him. Dawn felt sympathy in his chest as she watched the slave child struggle to open the wine bottle. However, unfortunately for the little boy, in his struggle to get it open, the bottle slipped from his little hands and it shattered on the floor, splattering a bit on him and the drunken vampire, who was now enraged. He gave a growl and screamed,

"You little bitch! Spilling good wine like that!" He took his goblet and hit the child over the face with it, shattering it. The child gave a cry of pain and fail back and she could see blood. The scent of the child's blood in the air caught the attention of every vampire in the room. Dawn looked at the bleeding and crying child, with shattered glass on his face, on the ground and a rage built up inside her. Vampires had abused humans for far too damn long. Before she realized what she was doing.

Dawn was standing wine goblet in hand, and she shouted.

"You son of a bitch, how dare you strike a child." Before anyone could react. She struck the wine goblet over his head, shattering it. His rage now turned from the child to her.

"Why you-" Before he could finish speaking a voice boomed over them.

"Stop, and come here now." Came a commanding voice, that automatically made her stop. She looked up to the head of the table to see the king standing up. His expression of apathy now changed to one of seriousness. The drunken vampire, immediately began to stumble towards the king, but Dawn would not immediately obey. She went to the fallen child's side, and began to remove pieces of glass from his face.

"Sshh..." She whispered to the little boy, "It's okay...it's okay." She said, as she dusted off the glass shards. He was bleeding from several places in his face, but he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Don't be scared." She said gently to the bleeding boy. "I'm here." She slowly helped the boy up to his feet. The child grasped her hand, and slowly they walked up to the Vampire king and drunkard, who had started this mess in the first place. If they king was annoyed her delay to take care of the child, it did not show on his face. Before the king could say anything, the drunkard began to rave and rant against her and the slave child he had struck. She felt the child move behind her skirts. She was not sure what scared the child more, the king, or the one who struck him.

Finally, the king raised his hand to the raving man, as a sign for him to be quiet. The drunken vampire was sober enough not to dare disobey the king of vampires. King Dragos turned his gaze to the child.

"Dmitri," He called, and a guard on the wall answered,

"Yes, sir."

"Take the child to the infirmary." The guard immediately obeyed and took the child's hand. She felt the child was reluctant to leave her side, but the guard took him off, anyway. Then the king turned his eyes toward the drunken vampire.

"Anton, your family has served mine well and has continued to serve me in turn." The drunken man grinned widely at this. Dawn held back a sigh, of course vampires always put family connections before anything, especially slaves.

"However-" Continued King Dragos, "-I grow tired of your drunkenness and lack of respect for anything in my household. You treat both my objects and slaves with little concern and for that I am ordering you to leave the palace and return to your family's manor." Anton began to gape,

"I was just punishing that incompetent slave of yours not to spill things." He pointed to Dawn, "It was this bitch who struck me. Punish her, send her back."

"Anton, you know I don't like fowl language at the dinner table. I gave you an order, return to your suite and begin packing. I will give you till the next night to start your journey home."

"B-b-but you can't do this-" Before he could continue King Dragos shout the man a deadly glare.

"Are you disobeying the orders of your king?" The tone was dangerous and now Dawn began to fear for herself if she was asked in that tone.

"N-n-noo." With that, Anton stumbled out of the dinning room. Now all that was left was her. She swallowed hard. The King now turned his gaze to her.

"What is your name?" The girl gave the king a curtsey, as she answered.

"Dawn, your majesty." Her heart was leaping in her chest.

"Dawn, this is your first night here so I will tell you. I don't like fowl language at the dinning table."

"Oh, forgive me my king. I will not let it happen again." She had given her apology, but now what was he going to do? That couldn't be it, just berating her for saying a bad word like a child. She had struck a noble vampire over the head. Surely she would be punished.

"You are forgiven, Dawn, now take your seat." Dawn felt shock go through her body. Was that really it, no punishment, or anything.

"Thank you...your majesty." With that she went back to her seat, and she saw that slaves had cleaned up the mess that had been made earlier. Their was silence for a moment, but finally a consort candidate became brave enough to resume conversation with the king, and things returned to normal.

Dawn was so glad when dinner was finally over.

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	2. Roses and novelists

Dawn could not go to sleep during the latter part of the night, no matter how hard she struggled just could not find it in her to sleep. The events of the day still went over in her mind. Why had King Dragos not punished her? She knew very well that vampires hated it when humans stepped over the line and yet, he had barely reprimanded her and he didn't even mention anything about her attacking a vampire noble, but about her saying a fowl word. It didn't make much sense at all. She sighed and got up.

She was thankful to be out of that ridiculously lacy gown and into a comfortable nightgown. She gave a sigh and finally got up from bed, she wondered over to her vanity and lite the candle on it and sat down. She stared at her mess that was her blonde curls. She hardly looked like the doll from dinner. The candidate consort stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. Perhaps sitting up would make her more tired, she lazily reasoned. Several moments later, she heard a knock at her door. This startled her. Who would be knocking at so close to dawn? Then she heard it again, it was a very soft knock. It didn't sound like a knock her guardian, or a guard would make. Again she heard it, Dawn rose from her vanity and hesitantly walked to the door, before carefully cracking the door open.

There stood the child that she had defended from the drunken vampire at dinner. She gave a gasp. Wondering what he could possibly want and there was no way he was suppose to be out at this late at night. She opened the door quickly, before anyone could see him and ushered him in. She shut the door, hurriedly, but softly. Dawn turned back to the child, with the light of the full moon from her window; combined with the light from the candle on the dresser she could make out that the boy had several stitches on his face. This made her even more angry at that drunken bastard. However, why was this child here? Was there a reason he would risk getting into trouble to be here? She looked down at him.

"Umm...do you need my help?" She asked the boy gently. The boy shook his head. She then noticed he was carrying a small bag. He reached into his bag and pulled out a red rose in full bloom. Vampires loved roses, especially red ones. Nearly, every vampire manor had a rose garden and every minor vampire house had rose bushes. The boy held out the red rose to her. She paused for a moment, before carefully taking it from his little hand and bringing it up to her face and smelling it's rich perfume. Vampires loved rose breeding and had made roses to have strong scents.

"For me?" She asked, the boy. The boy gave a nod of his head. Dawn gave him a smile,

"Thank you, but won't you get in trouble for taking roses from the royal garden?" She asked with concern.

"No ma'am," answered the young boy, "I sneak the roses out for my mother all the time. They never notice." Dawn spun the rose between her fingers, it's perfume filling the air around her.

"What's your name, young man?" She asked the boy.

"My mother named me Alexander, but everyone calls me Alex." He answered, Dawn then took the rose into her hand and gave Alex a curtsey and the boy gave her a bow in return.

"My name is Dawn." She told them when they both rose back up, "Now Alex, thank you for the rose, but won't you get in trouble for being here?" The boy looked up to her and responded,

"I had to thank you, and besides I am use to sneaking around." Dawn looked down at the rose again.

"Well, Alex, if you sneak around here so much, then you must know a lot about the rooms here and the schedules of the vampires." The boys lite up at that, and he nodded eagerly.

"There are some guards around, but they are mostly on the bottom floor or at watch around the towers. All the other vampires nobles are mostly asleep at so close to Dawn." Alex told her, eager to show his knowledge. She smiled at him.

"I'll admit I'm impressed, Alex, but could you tell me something?"

"Yes, ma'am, what is it?"

"Is there a library here...or a room full of books?" The boy gave a nod and she felt her heart leap in her chest of joy. "Could you show me where it is? If that isn't too big of a risk for you?"

"No, ma'am it wouldn't be a problem at all." Dawn smiled,

"Wait here, let me change, first." There was a chance, however small, that she was going to get caught, but she wouldn't be caught in her nightgown for sure. She went over to her wardrobe and pulled out a dress she liked. It had a wine colored skirt. The top was a black and wine colored bodice with black strings crosses it and wine roses embroidered on the color. It sleeves were slightly puffed at the top, but form fitting the rest of the length to her wrist. Yes, she preferred this far more than that ridiculously frilly assemble she had to wear at dinner. She took the dress and turned to Alex.

"I'll be right back." She told the boy and headed into the washroom where she quickly changed into the black and champagne dress. She came out of the washroom and saw that Alex had been right where she left him.

"Almost done." She said, as she went to her vanity, not bothering to sit down, she took a hairbrush and started on her mess of blonde curls and quickly had then fixed. She didn't bother with silly things like make-up. She turned back to Alex.

"Ready." She told him. The boy opened the door and Dawn followed him. They walked into the dark halls, she felt the boy graved her hand, as he lead her with confidence into the dark.

"I've never been inside the library." The boy admitted, "But I have seen it with the doors open. The use magic to keep the fire lite there at all times" He said in a soft voice. Dawn felt relief at this, now she didn't have to worry about searching in the dark.

"That's okay, Alex, would you like to come inside with me?" She asked him, softly.

"No, ma'am, I need to get back to the slave quarters before the check-in. I have to hurry you back when you are done." Dawn thought.

"No, need for I have been studying the paintings and counting the turns of the hallways. I can find my way back to my room. You go on ahead to your mother. I can take care of myself." She didn't want the little boy to get in trouble because of her, and she didn't want to feel in a rush at the library.

"Are you sure, Ma'am?" She heard the worry in Alex's tone.

"Yes, I am sure." She confidently replied back. She felt the boy wanted to protest more, but at the same time he knew he had to get back to the slave quarters as soon as possible. Finally, they came to a pair of double doors with light peaking underneath. She squeezed Alex's hand.

"Thank you, so much, Alex.'

"You're welcome, ma'am, but will you be alright without me to guide you back?" He looked worried.

"We took five right turns, and three left turns and before my room is a painting of a fussy looking man with a scowl. I'll be fine. Just go back to your mother. Your sneaking off must worry her." She wish to see the expression on the little boy's face, but he was away from her.

"You're right, ma'am." He said, "Goodnight-" He said, as he left her, "-and good luck."

"To you as well, Alex." She told the him, as she watched the boy disappeared into the darkness of the hallways. Dawn now happily turned back to the double doors. She opened them slowly, as too not make too much noise in case their was a guard around the corner and those vampires had damn good hearing. When she opened the door, she gave a gasp. The library was far larger and grander than she ever imagined. The shelves reached to the ceiling, with ladders attached to reach the high shelves and the shelves stretches as far as the eye could see. In the center of the library was a giant fireplace that was so large she could feel the heat waves from the door. Surrounding the grand fireplace was a small comfortable sitting area. Dawn smiled to herself, as she entered the great library, slowly shutting the door behind her.

She felt a childish happiness that surged through her in the first time in years, she felt like she had discovered a secret playground and in a way she had. She strolled down, trying to figure out the layout of the library. She took silent footsteps amongst the shelf and she rolled her hands over the volumes, right now she seemed in non-fiction and history. Usually, she would read whatever she had the chance too, but now she had the chance to be picky. She wondered the library more and saw books both familiar, and not familiar. Dawn wondered more around the library, and came to the classic section since she recognized so many of the titles. She searched the shelf until she spotted one title that caught her fancy.

_The Count of Monte Cristo_. She picked up the old and thick volume from the shelf. The curly blonde examined the book, flipping through the slightly yellowed pages. She had heard of this book, but her masters at the manor never had a copy of it. Dawn made up her mind. She would take the book with her to her room and read it during the first few hours of daylight, but first perhaps she could read the first chapter here, next to that grand fireplace. She hugged the book to her chest and made her way the sitting are, in the center of the library.

She entered the sitting area by the side, and felt the heat of the fireplace by her side. She should have paid more attention to her surroundings. Because a dangerously soft voice spoke,

"May I help you?" Dawn jumped. That voice...it couldn't be...could it. She felt her body tightened as she turned to the front of the left of her. She swallowed hard. Then the human girl turned her head and saw him. There in a red armchair with a tall back too it, sat the vampire king. Before she could think she stuttered out,

"W-what ar-r-e you do-doing here?" The Vampire king gave her a curious look. Now she realized how stupid she sounded.

"What am I doing here?" He repeated to her, his voice holding no harshness though, "This castle is my home. Shouldn't I be asking what you are doing here?" Dawn's pale cheeks turned a rosy red. She immediately, and clumsy tucked the thick volume under her arm, and gave an awkward curtsey.

"Forgive me, your majesty." She had calmed herself down enough not to stutter or trip over any other words.

"Rise, I don't need apologizes for this." He said, and Dawn slowly rose back up and carefully took the book out from under her arm and held it carefully. She now had a good look at the king. He sat...more relaxed than at dinner...more at ease she cold tell from his body and expression, but he wasn't slouching or showing any sign of laziness. In his lap was open a red book. King Dragos was reading? She was...surprised, vampires usually sleep from late night to when the sun set. They rarely took the late night hours to do anything else, since they were afraid of getting caught by sunlight. The king cleared his throat which brought Dawn's attention of observing him and paying attention to his next words. Oh, would she be in trouble? Get sent home, early? Then she wouldn't have a chance to escape.

"Now, tell me, Dawn-" Dawn couldn't help, but be taken back at being directly addressed by the king of vampires, even if she was one of his candidates for consort. "-why are you here?" His voice didn't have a harsh of condemning edge too it, more neutral than anything. However, that didn't mean no punishment would follow. She had gotten off easily at dinner, but the king might now be thinking she was too much trouble. She tightened her grip on the thick book on her hands and then glanced back at the red open book on the king's lap.

"I believe, your majesty, for the same reason you are here. Well, the same reason anyone visits a library." She responded in the formal tone she had been taught in. The king kept his face expressionless, and he titled his head to the side and brought her elbow on the arm of his hair and rested his head against the palm. Dawn was a bit taken a back at the even more casual way his body relaxed now. What did this mean?

"What do you have?" He gave a gesture, with his free hand, to the book in her hands. Dawn held it up, and said,

"The Count of Monte Cristo." She told him in a soft voice.

"Ah," King Dragos responded, "I see, a very good choice. Have you read it before?" Dawn shook her head,

"No, my king, I have heard of it, but my masters did not own a copy. I always wanted to read it." She wondered if he would order her to put the book back, but something told her she wouldn't. The king gave a nod.

"Well, I hope you like it." He told her. Her heart leaped with joy. So he wasn't going to punish her? Or anything for being out so late? A part of her told her to depart now, while she still had the chance. However, a curious thought caught in her and she couldn't help, but ask the king.

"And what do you have?" She asked, referring to book in the king's lap. The king lifted the book from his lap and she could see the gold lettering on the cover.

"Romance of the Forest." She said reading it, "That's by Anne Radcliffe, isn't it?"

"Yes, you know your classics well, Dawn." The king complimented her and a slight pink blush covered her cheeks. Did the king really just compliment her. Had she made a mistake? Was she getting his...attention? Her heart skipped a beat. No, she didn't want his attention. That was not part of the plan. But maybe, she was over thinking it. After all, she hadn't even sat with him at dinner while all those human women, some more beautiful than she could ever aspire to be, throw themselves at him. No, she couldn't have his attention. She was worrying for nothing. She took a breathe and replied to the king.

"Thank you, your majesty, but I will confess I only know so much because the late human concubine of my one of my masters loved Gothic novels and had a large amount of them left behind in her bedroom after her wake." The king gave her a nod and then asked,

"Tell me, Dawn, have you read many books?" The blonde thought about this before answering,

"As many as have been available to me, your majesty. I have often had to reread books." The old manor didn't have a library, but books scattered around in odd and ends rooms. King Dragos studied her.

"Out of all the books that have been available to you what has been your favorite?" Dawn was silent for a moment, her first thought was her fairy tale book, but that was many stories in one volume. She couldn't pick a favorite of that. Then she thought harder and the answered became clearer to her.

"Out of all the tales I've read, your majesty, my favorite would have to be Jane Eyre." Yes, she had read that book the most, besides her fairy tale one, she strongly related to the heroine even as a young, isolated child. Dawn remembered reading the opening scenes paragraphs about Jane Eyre and being able to strongly relate too her and the struggles she was going through. Isolated, alone, and bullied. She knew it all too well. Dawn left her thoughts to look at the vampire king and there seemed to be a spark in his eyes at her answer.

"You like the Brontes?" He asked, there was something _more _to his voice in the question now. At first, there had been little more than polite neutrality, but now there was a distinct undertone of...curiosity? Was that the right word for it? Whatever, the correct word was she wondered if she had made a mistake with her answer. Had she attracted his attention? She didn't need that at all, but at the same time she couldn't back out now without offending him. The last thing a human needed to do was too offend a powerful vampire, especially the king of vampires.

"Yes," She finally answered him, with honestly, "I love the Brontes; Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey." It was an honest answer, it truly was. She loved the dark novels and stories they told and the realism they seemed to give off. "I haven't read all their books, I know there are others, but the manor only had the most popular." One of the odds and ends books that her master's manor had was a book about authors and their books. She had searched her favorite authors and was disappointed to find that many of the books by her favorite authors were not there and books she was very curious about reading weren't there either. The king gave a nod.

"This library has the complete works of the Bronte sisters within it." He informed her. She gave a bow of her head.

"Thank you, your majesty for telling me." The consort candidate raised her head back up, "I take it you enjoy the works of the Brontes as well?" She was not sure why she was asking him, considering that she didn't _want_ his attention. So why was she continuing this discussion? Then suddenly it dawned on her that it is because she never had anyone to really share her passion of reading with. The teacher who had taught her to read kept their readings to mostly non-fiction works of vampire and human history, skimming over fiction and literature and her tutors while training her to be a candidate for vampire consort had not truly gone over literature with her. It was a twisted sweet irony in the way that the first person to indulge her passion with was the one who was suppose to be her greatest enemy. Why had fate dealt her such cards?

"I enjoy the Brontes, I will not lie. However, I am more interested in your liking of the Brontes. Whenever the topic of literature comes up among young women, the answer to their favorite is usually _damn_ Jane Austen." Without meaning too a smile cracked on the blonde's face.

"Why, your majesty, I think you just said a fowl word." Perhaps teasing him, or calling him out on this would make him loose some interest in her, but all she saw was a small _hint _of an amused smile cross his features before they returned to their natural neutral expression.

"Why so I did indeed, Dawn, but this is not the dining table, not that I encourage strong language outside the table." He clarified to her. The human girl gave him a nod.

"Yes, that is true, your majesty, but I must ask why did you refer to the famous and respected novelist Jane Austen in such a way?" She was curious, about that. She had never heard anyone dislike Jane Austen, but then again most of her readers were women, not men. Perhaps it was just his masculine perspective.

"Do you know of Mark Twain?" He asked her. Dawn gave a confused blink. What did Mark Twain have to do with Jane Austen? The were both authors, yes, but of very different styles and settings. Why would there be a need to compare them?

"Yes, your majesty, I have. My master's manor had two of his books; Town Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." She stated, "I enjoyed his work." She also added.

"Well, he once said the best library in the world would be one in which there was not a single book by her; even if it had no other books." Dawn looked up at the vampire king in surprise. She was not sure what she was more surprised be Mark Twain's comment, or the fact King Dragos knew it.

"I had no idea." She admitted to the vampire king.

"He also said that reading the prose of Pride and Prejudice made him want to dig up her grave and take her shin bone and use it to beat over her skull." At that comment it was Dawn's turn to hide a smile. She didn't want the king to think she was too pleased with him, after all.

"I take it then, your majesty, that you share a similar opinion with the late novelist, Mark Twain, about the revered authoress."

"I have never been able to finish a single work of her's." The king stated, "Did I insult your taste, Dawn? Do you like her?" She shook her head.

"You have not insulted me at all, my lord." Dawn tried to keep her amusement over this at bay. But it was such a sight the feared king of the vampires confessing his hatred for an eighteenth century author, it was a rather amusing image. She tried not to let the king see her amusement, but she somehow knew her eyes and the subtle expression of her mouth were giving her away to him, but perhaps that was for the best. Perhaps, if he knew he amused her in such a way, he would have no interest in her as consort. "I will state, your majesty, while I have finished novels by her she is far from a favorite author of mine." That was the truth, she was more neutral to Jane Austen than anything.

"You have a right to your taste, Dawn." The king then rose from his seat. Dawn was not sure what to do now, or what the king had in mind, but he laid the book down, open on the small table before him and held out his hand to her. "Come, Dawn, let me escort you back to your room. Sunrise will soon be upon us and a guard might catch you and I'll have to punish you then." His dark eyes meet her blue ones, "You can keep the book as long as you like and come back for more...at more appropriate hours." Dawn wanted to ask him why he was not at bed at an 'appropriate' hour, but he was the king and she did not have the right to ask the king about his private doings.

She laid her hand in his. It was warmer than expected, she noted. The vampire king gently pulled her too him.

"Can you tell me where your room is?" He asked, her and Dawn thought.

"It is the door left to the painting of a fussy looking man with a horrible scowl that ages him greatly." She knew very well that the painting was likely one of the king's departed relatives and that by insulting it she might earn his displeasure, perhaps him even taking back his invitation to escort her to her room. Instead, what she got in return for her not-so-subtle mockery was a smile that took her back a bit. The king had not openly smiled in front of her tonight, but now it was a small, but clear smile. Dawn had to admit that the smile along with the firelight...made him appear much more handsome than unusual. She mentally slapped herself for such a thought. This man was the enemy she reminded herself.

"Ah, I know that man with the scowl, he was my Great-Great Uncle Alberto, a most unpleasant man and never got over not being the heir to the throne and resented, in his oh so subtle way, all heirs to the throne including myself." He shook her head, and gave a small chuckle, another surprise for the human girl that night. "I am glad that I am not the only one who thought such of his painting." She paused for a moment.

"My mother told me in old age, you get the face you earned through life. If you were a terrible, mean person you will look like a mean old lady, but if you are kind and sweet you will look like a kind grandmotherly woman." She looked at him, "I always thought she told me this to keep me from misbehaving, but perhaps there are so truth to her words, I now realize."

"I wouldn't be surprised." The king answered her, "Now, let me escort you back, Dawn." He gently took her hand and began to escort her out of warm glow of the library and into the dark halls. She wondered, if she should have been more ruder to him, but at the same time she didn't want to be thrown out, yet. She wanted to stay and find a way to escape instead of being sent back to the manor and becoming some rich vampire's broodmare. The king said nothing to her, leaving her to wrestle with her thoughts. She noticed by the time they got back to her room the sky was being to get a dark blue, indicating that the sun would soon rise.

Finally, they reached the door of her room. He still grasped her hand, and wasn't showing a sign of letting it go. Dawn was debating if she should pull it away, or not, but he turned to her and brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, before releasing it.

"Take care, Dawn." He said, before turning. Leaving her stunned there. Then she realized she had to go back in her room. She quickly hurried in and changed out of her wine and black colored dress and back into her nightgown. She laid her book on the nightstand, usually she would have opened the book, but now she was far from in the mood to read. The thought kept ringing through her mind.

What have I done?

She struggled with this thought, as exhaustion started to threaten to overtake her. She didn't want to interest the king, and she felt she had earned his attention through no one's fault, but her own. She could have appeared dull and unintelligent. She could have lied and said she had gotten lost in the library and that books were boring. She could have done all that, but didn't. The girl feel back on her pillow, her blonde curls spilling over the white cushion. She could see sparks of the dawn peaking through her heavy drapes. She gave a sigh. Tomorrow, she would definitely work on finding a way to escape. Yes, she would. She would find some way to escape. She just had too.


End file.
